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Surgeon general lays out framework to tackle loneliness and ‘mend the social fabric of our nation’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

(CNN) — US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy released an advisory Tuesday addressing the “epidemic of loneliness and isolation” affecting the country and laying out a framework for a “National Strategy to Advance Social Connection.”The advisory is part of the Biden administration’s broader efforts to address mental health, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Monday.“In recent years, about one-in-two adults in America reported experiencing loneliness,” Murthy says in the advisory. “And that was before the COVID-19 pandemic cut off so many of us from friends, loved ones, and support systems.”Research has showed that loneliness and isolation are linked to sleep problems, inflammation and immune changes in younger adults. In older people, they’re tied to symptoms such as pain, insomnia, depression, anxiety and shorter life span. In people of all ages, they may be associated with higher risks of heart diseas...

‘My job is not nearly as sexy’: The hits and misses of Netflix’s ‘The Diplomat’

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

State Department employees around the world have been bingeing “The Diplomat,” a new Netflix show starring Keri Russell. And many of them find it preposterous — and utterly amusing.The show — centered on a U.S. ambassador to the U.K. named Kate Wyler — is fiction. But it veers from hyper-specific accuracy (“Did you call the RSO?”) to genuinely ridiculous moments in ways that are keeping even the most jaded foreign policy practitioners coming back for more.“There’s a lot of detail in there that’s really, really smart,” said Aaron Snipe, a spokesperson with the U.S. Embassy in London. But, “as a career diplomat, I must say you’re watching it thinking, ‘Wow, my job is not nearly as sexy as Ambassador Wyler’s romps through foreign policy.’”Staff for “The Diplomat” sat down with officials from the U.S. Embassy during production to try to get details right, and Snipe said the ambassador and the rest of the team were fans of the show.“I loved the show,” said Lewis Lukens, a ...

Russian fuel depot catches fire near key Crimea bridge

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

KYIV — A severe fire broke out Wednesday morning in Russia at a fuel depot near the critical bridge it uses to deliver weapons and soldiers to occupied Crimea — and from there into southern Ukraine.“The fire has been assigned the highest level of severity. According to preliminary information, there are no victims,” Veniamin Kondratiev, Krasnodarsky regional governor, said in a Telegram statement. “Fire brigades, the ministry of emergency situations, and emergency services are on the scene. Everything possible is being done so that the fire does not spread further.” The cause of the fire is unknown. The incident occurred days after an apparent drone strike hit a fuel depot in Sevastopol, a Crimean port city used by the Russian navy. Although Ukraine has not officially taken responsibility for the strike, Natalia Humeniuk, spokeswoman of Ukraine’s Army Command South, said the Sevastopol fire was a preparation for a Ukrainian counteroffensive.“The fac...

Tories fume after ex-official Sue Gray snubs investigation into Labour job

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

LONDON — Conservative MPs took aim at former senior civil servant Sue Gray after she declined to take part in a government probe into her controversial new job with the opposition Labour Party.The Cabinet Office launched an investigation earlier this year after Gray quit her role in the British civil service — which prizes its impartiality — in favor of becoming chief of staff to Labour Leader Keir Starmer.But, despite expectation she’d be criticized in an update from minster Oliver Dowden Tuesday, Dowden told MPs he was “unable at this stage to provide further information” on Gray’s leap to the opposition.And he said Gray had declined the chance to spell out whether she had any contact with the Labour leader while in office.Dowden said the probe into the circumstances surrounding Gray’s exit “involved interviewing relevant persons to establish further details on the contact between Ms Gray and the Leader of the Opposition.”And he added: “I can update the House that Ms Gray was give...

1 person hospitalized with severe burns after fire in Abington

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

One person was hospitalized with severe burns after a fire broke out at an Abington apartment early Wednesday morning.Fire Chief John Nuttall says the fire was contained to one unit in the multi-family home on North Avenue.Nuttall says the cause appears to be accidental. No additional information has been released. This is a developing story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest updates.

US Navy: Iran seizes oil tanker in Strait of Hormuz

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Iran seized a Panama-flagged oil tanker in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, the second-such capture by Tehran in recent days, the U.S. Navy said.The Navy’s Mideast-based 5th Fleet identified the vessel as the Niovi. It said Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard seized the ship.The Navy published pictures of a dozen Guard vessels surrounding the tanker. Those ships “forced the oil tanker to reverse course and head toward Iranian territorial waters off the coast of Bandar Abbas, Iran,” the Navy said.“Iran’s actions are contrary to international law and disruptive to regional security and stability,” the 5th Fleet said in a statement. “Iran’s continued harassment of vessels and interference with navigational rights in regional waters are unwarranted, irresponsible and a present threat to maritime security and the global economy.”Iran’s semiofficial Tasnim news agency, believed to be close to the Guard, reported the paramilitary f...

Teenage boy kills 8 children, guard at school in Belgrade

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A teenage boy opened fire in a school in central Belgrade Wednesday, killing eight children and a school guard, police said. Six more children and a teacher were injured.Police identified the shooter by his initials, K.K. The statement said he was a student at the school and was school, born in 2009. He was arrested in the school yard, police said.THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — A teenage boy opened fire early Wednesday in a school in central Belgrade, causing injuries, Serbian police said. Media reported that one person was killed.Police said in a statement that they received a call about the shooting in the Vladislav Ribnikar primary school around 8:40 a.m. The suspect, a seventh grade student, was arrested, police said. The statement added that the boy apparently fired several shots from his father’s gun at a teacher, other students and the school guard.Serbian media have reported that the guar...

Germany raids Russian’s superyacht in sanctions probe

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

BERLIN (AP) — German authorities raided a luxury yacht belonging to a wealthy Russian businessman as part of a probe into possible breaches of Western sanctions imposed over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, officials said Wednesday.Specialists from the German navy and federal and state police took part in the search of the superyacht at an undisclosed shipyard in northern Germany, Frankfurt prosecutors said in a statement.The ship belongs to a 67-year-old Russian businessman, whose name wasn’t released for privacy reasons, prosecutors said.Authorities are trying to determine whether the businessman tried to hide valuables on the yacht, which he is required to report under European Union sanctions imposed last year.The investigation is separate from a case against Russian oligarch Alisher Usmanov, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, whose luxury yacht was raided in Germany last year.The Associated Press

Colombia’s Petro begins visit to Spain to boost peace plan

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Colombian President Gustavo Petro begins a state visit to Spain on Wednesday to seek support for his peace plan for the South American country, and to discuss economic investment and migration policy.Spanish King Felipe VI and Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez greeted Petro in Madrid. He is scheduled to address lawmakers at Spain’s Parliament and to attend a state dinner hosted by the Spanish royals.Sánchez, Spain’s Socialist leader, is a backer of Petro, an ex-rebel who became Colombia’s first leftist president last year.One of the main topics on his agenda is his peace process with the National Liberation Army (ELN), a guerrilla organization still active after the dissolution of FARC, a group which spent decades pursuing rebellion. Last week, ELN militants killed nine Colombian soldiers in an attack, complicating efforts by Petro to negotiate a lasting peace.The Colombian leader seeks Spain’s full support for his plan, which he will likely explicitly obtain from Sán...

Report: Taliban interfering with NGO work in Afghanistan

Published Wed, 19 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Taliban fighter fired his rifle into the air at a food distribution event in Afghanistan, an example of their harassment of nongovernmental groups operating in the country, a report said Wednesday.The Taliban last December barred Afghan women from working at NGOs allegedly because they weren’t wearing the hijab, or Islamic headscarf correctly, or observing gender segregation rules. In April, they said this ban extended to the U.N.It is being actively enforced by the country’s intelligence agency, which reports to the Taliban’s leadership in Kandahar, although their chief spokesman says there are no obstacles for U.N. operations in Afghanistan.The latest quarterly report from the watchdog for U.S. assistance to Afghanistan, SIGAR, cited examples of Taliban interference and harassment of NGOs, including the rifle incident.Organizations face security risks and harassment at Taliban checkpoints, unannounced Taliban visits to NGO offices, repeated requests for informat...